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Saturday, January 23, 2010

ASK WMD: Another Round of Auditor / AG Questions

Jill asks:

Matt - I appreciate how candid you've been on your feelings about this situation. I am interested in knowing what YOU think the right thing to have happen is.
...
I think his choosing to run for Auditor could really taint him - I get the "for the party" but when The Party is as you've described it, right now at least, doesn't that kind of knock down his "doing it for the party" reason, if that ends up being it?

Thanks, Jill. I have always had a policy that if I am going to do this, I am going to stay true to myself and my principles. To that end, I can't imagine being anything but candid about this situation.

In an ideal world, we would have Kasich-Somebody Else running for Gov/LG; Taylor running for re-election; Anybody Else running for Secretary of State; Dave Yost running for Attorney General; and Josh Mandel running for Treasurer. Since we don't live in an ideal world, I'll take Kasich-Taylor, Husted for SOS, Yost for AG, Mandel for Treas, Seth Morgan for Auditor, and Mike DeWine for Retirement.

I think the State Central Committee ought to have issued an endorsement or at least released some numbers on where that body sits on the issue. They punted. I think Chairman Kevin DeWine should have done more to make sure that the committee discharged the one duty that actually matters: endorsements. The whole purpose behind having an endorsement process is to help the rank and file figure out who has support from where. It is silly to have an endorsement process in uncontested primary situations. The GOP backs Mandel for Treasurer? WOW! What a shock that is!!! I'd have never guessed that the Ohio Republican Party State Central Committee would back the only Republican candidate running. They back Kasich and Husted too? Color me all kinds of amazed...

But seriously, folks...

I do think that if he switches races, Yost risks losing a LOT of credibility with the very folks who made him such a viable statewide candidate. Yost ran with the slogan of being a Prosecutor, not a Politician; but if he switches races, for whatever reason, he is going to have to explain himself and I am not sure that he can do so. I don't think that it is a foregone conclusion that the people who support Yost for AG are automatically Yost for Auditor backers. In fact, I have heard more people saying that they are backing Morgan or Rob Montgomery if Yost jumps in to the race. Does that represent a majority of the likely Republican primary voters? I have no idea, but I do think it represents a significant problem for Kevin DeWine's "grand plan" for world domination this ticket.

It's a hot mess, that is for sure...

As for the "doing it for the party" bit... There is an argument that can be made that a Yost move to Auditor protects the Apportionment Board, but doing so requires ignoring all of the VERY vocal folks who have been saying that Yost needs to stay in the AG race. You also have to think that neither Rob Montgomery or Seth Morgan are both not qualified or capable of raising the funds. As Scott Pullins pointed out previously, the Auditor's race doesn't require a vast war chest. I am reasonably sure that either of these candidates is capable of getting the job done if they are diligent. Of course, the DeWine Family has to knock off their antics in order for that to happen, but that's a whole other story. I don't know much about Rob Montgomery or his credentials, but I know that Seth Morgan is a CPA so at least one of the candidates is MORE qualified than Yost.

I just don't see a way to frame that argument in such a way that it passes the smell test...

Motto:

Every cloud has a silver lining (except for the mushroom shaped ones, which have a lining of Iridium & Strontium 90).

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